Ginger Crinkle Cookies

Description:

Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld, a hypnotherapist and writer, started improving the nutritional profile of a friend’s mother’s ginger cookie recipe by substituting whole-wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour and canola oil for shortening. "Experiment with these cookies," she advises, "as they taste great either slightly underdone or crispy." She calls them "the quickest cookies you’ll ever bake."

Ingredients:

2/3 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar, divided (see Tip)

1 large egg

4 tablespoons molasses

2 cups sifted whole-wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation:

1

Preheat oven to 350°F.

2

Mix oil and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl until combined. Beat in egg until combined. Stir in molasses until evenly incorporated. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt over the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

3

Put the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in the sugar before placing 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Do not flatten.

4

Bake the cookies until set, but still soft when gently touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Tips:

Tip: Turbinado sugar is steam-cleaned raw cane sugar. It’s coarse-grained and light brown in color, with a slight molasses flavor. The coarse texture adds great crunch when used in baking. Find it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets or at natural-foods stores.